Dr. Võ Tòng Xuân is the rector of Tan Tao University

Tan Tao University

Tan Tao University - is a private non-profit university in Long An, Vietnam, established in 2010 by the . The founder and the main sponsor of TTU is Mme. Dang Thi Hoang Yen. Tan Tao is the university using the model of Duke University, USA...

 (TTU). He is the former rector of An Giang University

An Giang University

An Giang University was created as the second university in the Mekong Delta in 1999. Before gaining approval from the Ministry of Education and Training, it was a teacher training college. The former Rector of AGU was Dr. Vo Tong Xuan...

 (AGU) and the former vice rector of Can Tho University

Can Tho University

Cần Thơ University is a university in Cần Thơ, Vietnam. Established in 1966, it is a multidisciplinary university and a leading university in the Mekong Delta. Cần Thơ University is a leading agricultural research center in Vietnam...

. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation

Rockefeller Foundation

The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...

.

He is known throughout southern Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

 as Dr. Rice because of a popular television show that he ran that taught farmers different tactics for growing and cultivating rice. This was one of the reasons that Vietnam went from a net importer of rice to one of the world's largest rice exporters.

He was also instrumental in the eradication of the brown planthopper

Brown planthopper

The brown planthopper , Nilaparvata lugens , feeds on rice plants . BPH are among the most important pests of rice, and rice is the major staple crop for about half the world's population. BPH damage rice directly through feeding and also by transmitting two viruses, rice ragged stunt virus and...

 bug which, throughout the 1970s was destroying rice crops. Part of the problem in eradicating the bug infestation was the type of collectivization imposes on the farmers of southern Vietnam. He helped to bring about reforms in the early 1980s that can be seen as catalysts to the Doi moi reforms of 1986.

Notable Positions within International Organizations

• Member, Board of Trustees of the Rockefeller Foundation (2002 to date)

• Member, Board of Governors, Asian Institute of Management in Manila (1997 to date)

• Member, Board of Trustees of the International Potato Center at Lima, Peru (1996–99).

• Research fellow and trustee of the International Rice Research Institute
  International Rice Research Institute
  The International Rice Research Institute is an international NGO. Its headquarters are in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines, and it has offices in sixteen countries...
  
  .

Notable International Awards

• Recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for International Understanding in 1993.

• Canada’s Certificate of recognition for his "Dedication and contribution to the world of sciences"

• France’s "Chevalier de l'Ordre du Merite Agricole Medal"

• Japan’s Nikkei Asia Prize for Regional Growth

• Australia’s 2005 ASTD Derek Tribe Award. Currently, he is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and Technology.